Webster voters will get chance to add to police force

Selectmen on Tuesday took the “first step” to clean up the streets of Webster by putting in motion a Proposition 2-1/2 override ballot question to hire three more police officers.

Town Administrator John F. McAuliffe said hiring three “task specific” police officers would cost Webster $190,000 to $217,000, and that includes health insurance, retirement, Medicare costs, holidays and clothing allowance.

For the average Webster homeowner, whose house is worth $250,000, that translates to around $33 more a year on taxes, Mr. McAuliffe said.

Selectman Mark G. Dowgiewicz spearheaded the effort to get three additional officers to patrol the streets at night. He said if selectmen don’t lead the crusade, who will?

“I can guarantee if the three officers are allowed to do what they’re supposed to do, values in town should rise a lot more than $33,” Mr. Dowgiewicz said. “I think it’s a no-brainer. I hope the public will support it. This will be the first step to take care of a lot of issues in town.”

Mr. Dowgiewicz said the three police officers need to stay on an evening-to-early-morning shift.

“When you go out at night, you want to see these people out there doing their thing,” Mr. Dowgiewicz said. “Anyone in town driving around, they want to see these guys holding a zero-tolerance in town. That’s what we need to do.”

Mr. Dowgiewicz made a motion for the town administrator to put the override question on the ballot.

The motion passed 2-1 with Mr. Dowgiewicz and Selectman Donald D. Bourque, the board’s chairman, voting for it and Selectman Deborah A. Keefe voting no, citing a lack of information and input from the police chief.

Ms. Keefe said she would rather see the motion be to instruct the town administrator to reach out to the police chief to put together a proposal and bring that back to the board, than have the town administration set a day for the question to be on a ballot.

She added she wants to make sure it is going to benefit the town and not mean three police officers are put into an existing rotation schedule.

Ms. Keefe made a motion to have the town administrator work with the police chief and come back with his recommendation in four weeks. The motion passed 3-0.